Jakande Estate residents decry low power supply, exorbitant billing

Residents of Jakande Estate, Oke-Afa in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) on Sunday trooped out in large numbers to protest against persistent epileptic power supply in the area and outrageous bills given to the consumers. They also intensified clamour for prepaid meters as the only way out of their dilemma.

This is following their constant complaints in the last five months registered at the area and head office of Ikeja Electric Distribution Company. They lamented that they cannot continue paying for darkness.

According to them, particularly the artisans, the barely little supply has led to a decline in their activities, claiming that a larger chunk of their profits goes into purchase of petrol, yet they are still being charged exorbitant electricity bill.

The coordinator of the protest, Mr. Adeyemi Yusuf, said they have been overbilled and under-serviced. “For more than two years, we have been approached by several station managers to adopt a light sharing formula in the estate and to that we have bluntly refused. Since then, we have been denied regular power supply. We only have an average of an hour of supply at odd hours, like midnight when we don’t need it.”

A resident, Mr. Timothy Ogunola, who is physically challenged and suffers from high body pressure, said due to the power situation, he is unable to take his medications, hence his recovery process is very slow. “I had to install an inverter when it was becoming unbearable for me.”